Board of Education Meeting Minutes

February 6, 2007

ATTENDANCE: Jody Bishop-Pullan, Thomas Vetter, Migdalia Rivas, Susan Hamilton, Robert Polley, Rosa Murray, Gregory Burnett, Richard Fuller, Bruce Kimmel

STAFF: Dr. Salvatore Corda, Superintendent of Schools

OTHERS: Steven Colarossi, Molly Medico, Sally Cordovano, Bruce Mellion, Benita Raleigh, Maria Brancaccio, Harding Dies, Jill Griffin, Missy Conrad, G. Horn, Stuart Opdahl, Michael O’Neill, RSM, Lynn Massey

I. CALL TO ORDER

Ms. Bishop-Pullan called the meeting to order at 7:47 p.m.

II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

Ms. Bishop-Pullan led the Board and the audience in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

III. SPOTLIGHT ON THE NORWALK PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Ms. Hamilton presented the Spotlight on the Norwalk Public Schools report to the Board.

IV. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

Dr. Corda announced the selection of Ms. Karen O’Cossey for the position of assistant principal at Naramake School and Mr. Leonard Mecca for the position of Norwalk High School principal. Ms. O’Cossey began on February 5th and Mr. Mecca will begin on July 1st. Mr. Mecca has been the principal of Alexander Hamilton High School in New York for the past twenty years. Dr. Corda then thanked the members of the Norwalk High School search committee for their hard work on this project.

Dr. Corda then addressed the issue of what can and cannot be served to the school students. This is part of the national focus on obesity and to insure that the food that is served to the children is as healthy as possible. Dr. Corda said that he recognizes the anxiety on the part of the PTOs regarding this issue and regretted that he had not explained the law more clearly to them. Dr. Corda then reviewed the law and stated that the general understanding was that food items sold to students must conform to the required ingredient regulations. Food that is sold to adults is not covered by this legislation. Under certain conditions, food can be sold to children outside of school day. The Board will examine this and render a determination. Dr. Corda said that within a short period of time, the Board would be able to come to some clarity regarding this issue.

Another issue that had recently arisen was the transportation of students to and from events by parent volunteers. The law requires that the volunteers have a particular classification on their driver’s licenses to do this. The Board needs to consider this and plan how to operate within the law. Dr. Corda said that he was asking for patience on the part of the parents while this issue is being considered.

Dr. Corda then pointed out that in Ms. Hamilton’s report, a presentation had been mentioned with the phrase “turn concerns into opportunities”. There have been concerns focused on increasing the level of parental involvement in the schools. He stated that there is no single way for parents to be involved in their child’s education. Dr. Corda then listed the various District Plans that were in place for different areas, but said that the District does not have a District or City Plan for involving the parents in a student’s education. A representative group will consider this issue in March.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Let it be noted that the following comments and remarks by all speakers have been summarized and are not necessarily verbatim.

Mr. Colarossi, who resides at 6 Kingsbury Road in Norwalk, introduced himself to the Board. He stated that he was present because he needed to clarify some points about the recent legislation on foods served to students in school. A memorandum was sent on August 31, 2006 to all superintendents of schools in the State, which outlined the conditions. Three conditions need to be met for sales of food to students, Mr. Colarossi said, and then listed the conditions. These details have been known since August. The Naramake PTO stands to lose between $700 to $800 dollars from the previously planned Valentine’s Bake Sale while waiting for the BOE determination. This additional money helps with planning field trips, fund enrichment activities, additional books for the library and school supplies. Waiting for a determination will also impede planning for spring fundraisers. Mr. Colarossi stated that the Board could approve a blanket exemption to allow parent groups and PTOs to conduct sales, fundraising through food, as allowed under the Healthy Food and Beverages Act. Approval will go a long way towards helping the schools stem the loss that will occur with the restrictions.

Secondly, apparently an assumption has been made that eliminating the bake sale will prevent childhood obesity. Mr. Colarossi stated that he had been an obese child and suffered for it. As an adult, Mr. Colarossi stated that he had weighed over 510 pounds at one time. Mr. Colarossi then displayed his size 8X bathing suit to the Board. He then asked how many cupcakes from his elementary schools bake sales realistically would take cause this. He then stated that the answer was that the school bake sales were completely unrelated. Unresolved food issues cause childhood obesity. As a national speaker on the topic of obesity, Mr. Colarossi said that no one he has ever spoken to ever blamed the presence of a .25¢ cupcake at school twice a year or the fact that they brought candy or frozen cookie dough home that the parents had sold for them. There is also intimation that somehow those who support food related fund raising don’t share the passion regarding eliminating childhood obesity. No one shares the belief that any child should suffer as Mr. Colarossi suffered. However, costing school groups the valuable fund raising opportunity does not contribute to stopping the unfortunate and unhealthy trend. Mr. Colarossi asked that the Board consider granting the PTOs and parent groups a blanket exemption to allow food related fund raising within the confines of the law.

Ms. Medico, the treasurer for the PTO Council and also as a Co-President for Ponus School, addressed the Board next. She said that she was present to address the statements about what is now known as the “Bake Sale Ban”. It is not an act that had been widely discussed and therefore open to many rumors. Ms. Medico then thanked Dr. Corda for recognizing the PTOs concerns regarding this legislation.

Ms. Medico said that she had been part of a group that went to the Central Kitchens for an information session on what this issue is. The question was “What is a State Certified as an Act Concerning Healthy Foods and Beverages in Schools?”. Ms. Medico stated that all agree that obesity is an issue, but that is not what the parents are present to address. The parents are present to speak to healthy food choice, how it impacts the parents and PTOs. This act is far reaching and unfortunately, there is no one who really realizes the large impact it will have on everyone.

Ms. Medico said that after attending this session and hearing what is documented and what is not documented, she said that the PTOs feel that they have a better understanding on what is expected of them. It is necessary to follow the standards. There are some exemptions that are available. This certification does not apply to food items that are brought in by teachers or parents for parties in the classrooms. It is still possible to have food fundraisers and coupons can be sold to places like Krispy Kreme with major changes in that a parent must pick the items. The money that the City of Norwalk will receive from this certification will go to a general food service fund that is controlled by the City, which will be .10¢ per plate for breakfast and lunch. Based on the figures from last year, that would be approximately $50,000. If the food service does a good job, that will provide more money. Certification does allow for the sale of sweets, candy, baked goods and soda at least 30 minutes after school is over. This area is open to approval by the Norwalk Board of Education. These sales will not affect the certification if the sales of the sweets, baked goods, and soda are held during events that are: 1.) at least 30 minutes after school is over; 2.) the sale is at the same event location and 3.) the food items are not sold from a vending machine or school store. The Board can approve these sales. The PTOs believe that they can provide some great support to the Board of Education. Each PTO has a list of events at which the currently banned items are being sold at for fund raising purposes only, such as high school plays, ball games, and school dances. All the PTOs already know what functions they will be sponsoring for the upcoming year and what may or may not fall under these guidelines. The PTO wants to be pro-active and work with the Board of Education in understanding what and how the PTO can fulfill the healthy guidelines as required by the State. It is important to know what the requirements are, have them clearly documented, and communicated to all of the schools so there will be some guidelines for the PTOs to have.

At the meeting at the Central Kitchen, there were others who understood the frustration and anxiety about this. One of the staff members is already looking into finding recipes for top selling items, which will fit the State guidelines. Research is being done on cupcake, cookie and brownie recipes in order to distribute them to the parents. The Central Kitchen staff is willing to partner with the PTOs to navigate this maze.

It is the hope of the PTOs that the Board understands that the PTOs will abide by all the rules that are set forth. This is an attempt to understand the guidelines and make sure that the events, fundraisers and the day-to-day activities are allowed to continue. Ms. Cordavano greeted the Board and stated that she was the PTO Co-President. She said that the PTO Council is please to see the proposed hiring procedures for principals; teachers and administrators will continue to include the parent component. The PTO believes that the parent’s voices provide an important element in the hiring process and policy decisions.

Speaking of policy decisions, Ms. Cordavano, said this included the adoption of the Health Food Option of Public Act 06-3. She urged the Central Office and the Board of Education to keep the parents of appropriate policy decisions in a timely manner with clear written details so that the parents and PTOs have a chance to respond and plan accordingly.

Mr. Mellion then greeted the Board and stated that he had three items. First, he congratulated the Board on the two new administrators. Secondly, one of the items on the agenda for voting is the school calendar with some input from the NFT. Mr. Mellion said that the NFT appreciated the change of the conferencing to a few weeks later, which solves some problems for the NFT.

Mr. Mellion said that it was everyone’s goal to hire the best person possible, but there must be a balance between all the stakeholders. Mr. Mellion asked Dr. Corda a few months ago if there was a need for the standing committee on the diversity employment to reconvene. He was told that there was no need at that time. Now, on the agenda, there is an item that was not even made public until February 2nd. There was no comment or input from the committee, which had done the work approximately three years ago. There was not even notification to the members of intent to modify. Mr. Mellion said then indicated some changes on the proposal and pointed out that there was an area that stated, “parent and teacher input may be sought”. Mr. Mellion said that this should be changed to “will be sought” because it should be part of the process. There had also been some discussion between Dr. Corda and Mr. Mellion earlier about amending paragraph seven in terms of assessment vehicles.

In conclusion, Mr. Mellion then suggested that having the information packets available on Thursday afternoons rather Friday afternoons.

Ms. Raleigh addressed the Board next. She stated that she was the parent of past and present Brien McMahon students. Ms. Raleigh also said that she was the facilitator of the site-based council charged with the mission of upholding the mission of the school. The proposal to further alter the participation of the school based interview team is on this agenda. With the knowledge that not only the principal and several housemasters will be leaving at the end of the year, Ms. Raleigh stated that this proposal was an insult to the professionalism and the intelligence of the school based interview team. The committee currently has no ability to express their likes or give a rank order of candidate preferences. With the new proposal, there will be no place for parental input. With collaboration of the staff, administrators, parents and students, McMahon has become a great school. There is a great deal of respect for one another’s views at Brien McMahon. This new proposal appears to be an attempt to control the outcome rather than receiving reasoned input from the various groups. Ms. Raleigh then quoted from a recent newspaper press release about the recent hiring of the Norwalk High School principal. She reiterated that at McMahon, opinions are respected and therefore undue influence from a parent or staff member is not a problem. A paid consultant will not begin to understand the culture of the school, particularly if his or her loyalty will be to the Superintendent. The parents, teachers, students and staff know the school better than anyone and therefore should have a say because they respect the culture that does exist there. Ms. Raleigh asked that the proposal not be enacted. Enacting the proposal will remove any real participation by the parents.

Ms. Bracaccio addressed the Board next. She stated that she lives at 10 Heritage Hill Road and has a son and a daughter at Norwalk High School. She requested that the City consider funding a turf field at Norwalk High School. She stated that there is a discussion about possibly transferring unused funds from Jefferson School to build a new turf field at Norwalk High School. A viable solution is needed for this problem. Ms. Bracaccio stated that she is the junior lacrosse league girls’ coordinator for grades 3-8. The freshman girls’ lacrosse team is ready to go but there is no field room for them. This will not be able to happen without adequate field space. A new, safe turf field is needed at Norwalk High. Ms. Bracaccio asked the Board to consider this and thanked them for listening.

Mr. Dies of 19 Oakfield Road addressed the Board next. He stated that he has resided in Norwalk for 27 years and then gave a list of the various Norwalk schools that his children had attended. He stated that he has attended many fundraisers and drives the truck for the marching pit crew. Mr. Dies pointed out that the high school students have the ability to drive cars, dating, entering the military and voting. But, Mr. Dies said, the Board is saying that these young men and women are not capable of determining that pies and cakes are fattening. Mr. Dies asked what the Board was teaching the students by this, that the government via the City, State or federal level, will always tell them what to do or should the school be teaching the students responsible behavior. Mr. Dies also commented that in the military, a number of the servicemen and women are under the age of 21. They are able to drive a half million-dollar tank, but cannot be trusted with a cupcake. The bake sales aren’t going on daily; they are tied to specific events. Mr. Dies asked that the Board grant the exemption to specific events until the revised recipes can be provided. Teaching the students to be responsible is the answer.

Ms. Griffin then approached the microphone and said that she wished to reiterate what has been said about the Norwalk athletic fields. The parents wish to be included in the loop and hear progress updates.

A Strawberry Hill resident spoke to the Board next and said that he was amazed that Dr. Corda had mentioned parent participation in the meetings, since this meeting had thirty seats for fifty parents. He commented that in his years of being a parent of a student, he has never heard parents say that they needed more participation, but that the parents have consistently said that the schools won’t listen to them. Since Friday, this parent has been attempting to locate the State law regarding parent volunteers transporting students to and from events. He stated that he had read every statute that includes both the words “school” and “transportation” in them. For over three hundred years, parents have been transporting their children to school activities. When was this law enacted? It doesn’t need to be this way, he said sadly.

Ms. Conrad, who is with the League of Women Voters, displayed a calendar from one of the local newspapers, which is part of the Newspapers in Education program. There are still calendars left. She commented that the students where she works are fascinated by the calendar. This could be part of early citizenship training. The United Nations calendar is also available. The Human Relations Department has sent copies of this calendar, which focuses on Human Rights, out to the schools.

Mr. Gene Horn of Norwalk then addressed the Board. He stated that he was a Brien McMahon parent. He pointed out that Dr. Corda had said earlier that he wanted the parents involved. On the last page of the graph distributed today, it stated that parents “may be” asked. Mr. Horn asked how the BOE would get the parents involved if the parents “may be” asked to interview an administrator. Brien McMahon is about to lose the principal and all four housemasters. Mr. Horn stated that people need to be kept in the loop. If the administration does not want the parents involved, simply push them aside, but don’t enact a plan to get more parental involvement if that is not what is wanted. This situation is very confusing to Mr. Horn.

ACTION ITEMS A. Consent. 1. Approval of personnel actions. 2. Approval of budget transfers.

** MS. MURRAY MOVED TO APPROVE THE CONSENT CALENDAR ** MS. HAMILTON SECONDED.

Mr. Kimmel stated that he would like to remove the budget transfers from the motion.

** MS. MURRAY MOVED TO APPROVE THE CONSENT CALENDAR WITHOUT THE BUDGET TRANSFERS. ** MR. FULLER SECONDED. ** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

** MR. FULLER MOVED TO APPROVE THE BUDGET TRANSFERS. ** MR. VETTER SECONDED.

Mr. Kimmel asked why most of the budget transfers have to do with sports. He asked how this was budgeted on a yearly basis. Mr. Opdahl then explained that early in the year, the budgets for the sports equipment was set. He said that in retrospect, he had moved too much money out and now needed to correct the error. Mr. Kimmel said that this was a reasonable explanation and that it might be a good practice to include this type of explanation with the transfer requests.

**THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

B. Approval of the minutes of January 16, 2007

** MR. FOLEY MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF JANUARY 16, 2007. ** MR. VETTER SECONDED.

The following correction was noted: Page 3, paragraph 8. line three: please change the following from: “for the Human Resources subcommittee and Mr. Burnett is the Vice Chair” to “for the Martin Luther King Day Program and Mr. Burnett is the Vice Chair”

** THE MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE JANUARY 16, 2007 MEETING AS CORRECTED PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

C. Approval of field trip(s)

** MR. VETTER MOVED TO APPROVE THE FIELD TRIPS. ** MS. RIVAS SECONDED.

Mr. Polley suggested that the Policy Committee come up with guidelines so that the Board of Education does not have to approve field trips. Ms. Bishop Pullan pointed out that this was a fairly new policy and not all field trips come to the Board. Dr. Corda reminded everyone that the trips come to the Board if it is out of the state for three days or more. If it is less than three days or in state, Dr. Corda has the authority to approve the trip. Ms. Bishop-Pullan asked Ms. Hamilton to make a note of Mr. Polley’s suggestion

** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

D. Approval of Brookside renovation project as complete

** MR. KIMMEL MOVED TO APPROVE THE BROOKSIDE RENOVATION PROJECT AS COMPLETE. ** MR. FULLER SECONDED.

Mr. Kimmel commented that a number of years ago, as a Council member, he had voted on this project with the stipulation that it not exceed 11 million dollars. This is a long overdue project and he assumed that the punch list had been completed. Mr. Kimmel said that he hoped that the Board had a better handle on how to go about a school project than they did in the late 90’s.

** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. E. Approve 2007-2008 school calendar

Ms. Bishop-Pullan said that this calendar would include the change provided by the NFT.

** MR. VETTER MOVED TO APPROVE 2007-2008 SCHOOL CALENDAR. ** MR. FULLER SECONDED. ** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Mr. Burnett left the meeting at 8:15 p.m.

F. Approve cancellation of February 20, 2007 Board of Education meeting and scheduling a special meeting on February 27, 2007

** MS. RIVAS MOVED TO APPROVE THE CANCELLATION OF FEBRUARY 20, 2007 BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING AND SCHEDULING A SPECIAL MEETING ON FEBRUARY 27, 2007. ** MS. HAMILTON SECONDED. ** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

G. Approve revision of hiring procedures limited to current administrative vacancies (principal and housemasters)

** MS. MURRAY MOVED TO APPROVE REVISION OF HIRING PROCEDURES LIMITED TO CURRENT ADMINISTRATIVE VACANCIES (PRINCIPAL AND HOUSEMASTERS) ** MR. VETTER SECONDED.

Mr. Kimmel announced that he would be making a motion to table the issue following some discussion.

Dr. Corda stated that the statement that parents “may be” asked to participate in the selection process only applies to Central Office positions, such as Director, Instructional Specialists, and Special Education Instructors. The Plan requires the participation of teachers and parents for building personnel. He also stated that regarding the search for a new principal, a consultant has access to candidates that a journal ad or the district does not.

Mr. Kimmel stated that he had no problem with the Central Office staff issue.

** MR. KIMMEL MOVED TO TABLE THE APPROVAL OF REVISIONS OF HIRING PROCEDURES LIMITED TO CURRENT ADMINISTRATIVE VACANCIES (PRINCIPAL AND HOUSEMASTERS) TO THE FEBRUARY 27TH MEETING. **MS. RIVAS SECONDED. ** THE MOTION FAILED WITH TWO IN FAVOR (KIMMEL AND RIVAS) AND FIVE AGAINST (VETTER, MURRAY, HAMILTON, FULLER AND POLLEY.)

Dr. Corda then explained that a letter was going out to the parent on February 7th about this issue. Mr. Kimmel replied that a tight time frame was used too frequently to push matters through. Mr. Fuller commented that five administrators at Brien McMahon had resigned and that February 1st was a normal date for resignations to be handed in. Mr. Kimmel said that he had not realized that a consultant would be involved in the search process. Ms. Murray stated that this process would mirror the Norwalk High School process. Mr. Kimmel said that he did not recall voting on hiring a consultant. He then asked if such a vote had ever taken place. Ms. Bishop-Pullan replied that the Board had not voted on hiring a consultant. Ms. Rivas asked what the change was. Ms. Bishop-Pullan replied that it was to add a consultant to the Brien McMahon search process.

** THE MOTION TO APPROVE REVISION OF HIRING PROCEDURES LIMITED TO CURRENT ADMINISTRATIVE VACANCIES (PRINCIPAL AND HOUSEMASTERS) PASSED WITH SIX IN FAVOR (VETTER, MURRAY, HAMILTON, FULLER, POLLEY AND RIVAS) AND ONE AGAINST (KIMMEL.)

Mr. Burnett rejoined the meeting; Ms. Murray and Ms. Rivas left the meeting at 9:15 p.m.

VII. INFORMATION AND REPORTS

A. Policies: Vending Machines; Sub recipient Monitoring Guidelines; Sports Camps; School Activity Fund Accounting; Surveillance; Volunteers

Mr. O’Neill of RSM gave a brief overview of the findings of RSM regarding the School Activity Fund Accounting to the Board. Following that, he reviewed the fiscal year 2005 Sub-recipient Monitoring Guidelines and stated that he was working with Mr. Opdahl on this area.

Ms. Hamilton then gave a brief overview of the surveillance report. She also stated that volunteers who work with students off site would be required to have background checks and be fingerprinted. The implementation date of this will be July 1st. There was a brief discussion about the details around this requirement.

B. Board Members announcements

Ms. Bishop-Pullan announced that she had been appointed the Personnel Committee.

Mr. Fuller commented that this was Black History Month and encouraged all those present to be aware of and attend some of the numerous events scheduled during the month.

Ms. Massey, who was in the audience, was recognized by the chair to speak. She said that as a parent she was disappointed when the Board members arrive and have not read their information packets. She suggested that the Board members come prepared or don’t come at all, so they don’t waste others time. Ms. Bishop-Pullan replied that one reason that the Board holds open meetings is so that the Board members can discuss issues that they need clarification on.

VIII. NEGOTIATIONS DISCUSSION

** MS. HAMILTON MOVED TO ENTER INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION FOR THE PURPOSE OF NEGOTIATIONS DISCUSSION. ** MR. BURNETT SECONDED. ** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The Board entered into executive session with Dr. Corda at 9:45 p.m. and reconvened into public session at 10:08 p.m.

IX. Adjournment

Future Board Meetings

February 27, 2007, March 6, 2007, March 20, 2007 , April 3, 2007

** MR. VETTER MOVED TO ADJOURN. ** MR. POLLEY SECONDED. ** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The meeting adjourned at 10:08 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Sharon L. Soltes Telesco Secretarial Services

Category: Minutes